A brief survey of drug use and other activities preceding mystical-religious experiences
Baggot, M. J.
This online survey study (n=6209) investigated how often people who are sampled for reporting mystical-religious experiences attribute these to drug use. Stratified sampling was conducted via the application of Google Consumer Surveys, to gather data on activities that occasion mystical-type experiences. Amongst the subset of internet users who had mystical experiences, 4.7% of them attributed it to drug-use, which is less common than what might be naively predicted from studies of psychedelic users.
Abstract
Introduction: Many people report having had mystical-religious experiences. The prevalence of these experiences has increased over time, which suggests changing cultural factors may contribute the experience.Methods: I conducted an online survey of 6,209 adults to determine how common different activities, including drug use, were before the onset of a mystical-religious experience.Results: 19.6% (1,045) reported having had a mystical-religious experience and were asked a follow-up question on their activities before the experience. The most commonly endorsed pre-onset activity categories were: Prayer, meditation, or contemplation (37.2%); Being outdoors in nature (19.6%); and Religious ceremony, practice, or ritual (16.1%). Less commonly, respondents reported fasting (5.7%) or drug use (4.7%). A large percent (35.2%) reported not engaging in any of these activities before their experiences.Discussion: Psychoactive drugs and nature are precedents to mystical-religious experience that are not selectively associated with traditional religious institutions and deserve additional study.